Occupy Canada Protests: Media Braces For The Worst, While Protesters Show Kinder, Gentler Canadian Version

Posted:
10/18/2011 6:14 am EDT
Updated:
12/18/2011 5:12 am EST

Protesters wear pig masks and business suits at the Vancouver Art Gallery as thousands of people participate in the Occupy Vancouver protest on October 15, 2011. Experts say the media's continued presence may be the most meaningful message of all. (Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) | Getty

To say that Occupy Toronto has received comprehensive media coverage is an understatement.

Since the demonstrations kicked off on Saturday, a small army of reporters, photographers and TV trucks has followed every minor incarnation of the movement with unflagging devotion. Though nothing about the action has made it newsworthy in the traditional sense — participants have so far been more likely to break into song than break windows — the media has been a constant and formidable presence, treating everything from splinter protests on Bay Street to daily organizational meetings in St. James Park like major events.

The same is true in Vancouver, where demonstrator Eric Hamilton-Smith told The Huffington Post Canada by phone on Monday, “Every media institution that I can think of at one point or another has been trying to get an interview.”

But as media continues to grapple with the meaning of a movement that is still trying (often somewhat incoherently) to define itself, experts say their continued presence may be the most meaningful message of all. Despite the disorganization of the General Assemblies and the lacklustre nature of the marches, observers maintain that the media’s interest in Occupy Canada reflects the role social networking has come to play in protests — and, perhaps even more importantly, the sense that what’s unfolding here is part of something big.

“I don’t think we have seen anything quite like this in many years,” says former Globe and Mail bureau chief Jeff Sallot, who got his start covering anti-Vietnam War protests in the late 1960s. “This goes farther than just things like Pentagon spending. It also is touching on the fundamental economics issues, even if the discussion is often reduced to a placard.”

Generally speaking, when it comes to public demonstrations, news organizations are usually disinterested in the peaceful variety.

“When corporate media tends to cover protests, it’s often the spectacle that they’re covering, or the violence. As we all know, that makes good television in particular,” explains Megan Boler, a media and policy studies expert at the University of Toronto, who says that there is often a “media blackout” on protests that don’t fit this description.

But unless you count a shirtless man performing sun salutations in the gazebo in St. James Park as spectacle, that characterization is far removed from Occupy Toronto.

On Monday morning, guitars were the loudest sound in the tent city, where police presence was limited to a handful of bike cops chatting amongst themselves on a nearby sidewalk.

When asked about the demonstrators, one of the uniformed officers offered, “These are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.”

So how to explain the attention Occupy Canada is receiving?

To be sure, part of the motivation stems from the fact that news organizations know full well how quickly the tenor of demonstrations can change — a reality that is likely front of mind after the recent violent protests in Toronto and Vancouver at the G20 and the Stanley Cup final.

Hamilton-Smith, for one, believes that in Vancouver, some media outlets have tended to “fixate” on Stanley Cup riots and arrests at Occupy Wall Street in their coverage in an attempt “to create a juicy story.”

(Occupy demonstrations in the U.S. and other countries — which have been underway since protesters jammed lower Manhattan more than a month ago — have at times sparked violence and mass arrests.)

But the coverage is seems to be about more than the desire to have preemptive boots on the ground.

Clearly, an important factor is social media, which has played a significant role in generating buzz around the Occupy movement. Across Canada, organizers have set up Facebook groups, Twitter profiles and online forums to allow participants to communicate and plan events publicly — which, as any reporter can attest, makes their job a helluva lot easier.

“As opposed to it being a kind of illegal, direct action where people are trying to keep off the radar, and take [people] by surprise, this is presenting itself, and intentionally being very public,” says Boler, who is studying the impact of social media on protest movements. “And, it’s using social media in such a way that journalists are able to know when something is going to happen, even beforehand.”

Yet the Twitter-effect doesn’t fully explain why Occupy protests have vaulted to Page One (or, in the case of this news organization, the “splash” at the top of the homepage).

As Jacqueline Kennelly, author of Citizen Youth: Culture, Activism, and Agency in a Neoliberal Era, points out, the road for Occupy Canada was paved, in large part, by Occupy Wall Street.

“It’s not like they received the most coverage when they started. They had to camp out for a month,” she says. “The perseverance of the Occupy Wall Street campers gave it some legitimacy.”

Though Boler says some of the mainstream media interest in Occupy Wall Street came after the demonstrations “got hostile,” it took hold in earnest when the message, however broad, began to strike a chord.

“Something has shifted. The shift to me happened with two things: One was when the slogan, ‘We are the 99 per cent, came out.’ The second was when, on October 15, at least 140 cities across the U.S. and all of these global cities protested,” she says. “This touches a nerve of the 99 per cent — including journalists, who are not making six-figure incomes.”

The extent to which this message is resonating with even mainstream media, she says, was made clear on Saturday in Times Square, when one of the oversized news tickers reported that Occupy Wall Street had gone worldwide.

“That was, in all of my 20 years of being involved in this as a scholar and an activist, the first time I have ever had that experience,” says Boler, who was among the Occupy demonstrators in attendance at the time. “There we are in the streets and our actions have made it into the representation of corporate-owned news.”

All of which, Sallot says, is giving the movement a boost — even though it may not always seem that way.

Despite the media’s apparent discontent with participants’ ability to articulate their demands in coherent fashion, as he sees it, “The coverage has helped the demonstrators.”

The occupiers themselves, however, don’t seem so sure.

During Saturday’s General Assembly at St. James Park, demonstrators tried to intervene when they realized that their message — disorganized, loud, and confused – was the one that the mainstream media was getting too.

“Guys — there’s cameras everywhere. CBC is here. CP24 is here,” said one protester as the debate descended into argument. “They’re recording us acting like this. This is what everyone is going to see."

But whatever message they are receiving, the public appears to be paying attention.

As occupiers filled their bowls with a goulash of donated vegetarian chili and roasted potatoes on Monday morning, the tent city in St. James Park was visited by a steady stream of office workers, dog-walkers and curious passersby.

Sales executive Chris Chant and his wife were among those who paused to look at the dozens of hand-drawn placards that had been placed on the grass near the main thoroughfare.

“We saw it on TV,” he told HuffPost, “and just thought we’d have a look.”

With files from Huffington Post Canada reporter Scaachi Koul

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Voices At Occupy Toronto

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Organizer Daniel Roth had lost much of his voice by Sunday at St. James Park, but said the previous day's general assembly yielded a lot of progress. They decided on creating committees for media, facilitation, food, logistics and sanitation, just to name a few.
There are daily assemblies, sometimes twice a day, to decide on what actions the protesters can agree upon. Still, the group was significantly smaller on day two, with only around 200 people in the park on Sunday morning.
"Right now, we're getting to the roots of why is there economic injustice," he said. "We're analyzing these issues and developing radical means for solving these problems. We can begin to close the wealth gap tomorrow." (The Huffington Post/Scaachi Koul)

Sixteen-year-old Patrick Socha, left, and 15-year-old Tristan Walsh are Toronto high school students who took the weekend to join the Occupy Toronto protests on Saturday morning.
"Everybody should be able to get a job and make a decent wage," said Walsh. "It's what the people want." (The Huffington Post Canada/Scaachi Koul)

First Nations' member Yellow Eagle Bird Woman spoke at Occupy Toronto about the abuses she's witnessed in her community.
"I've seen the abuse, I've seen the neglect. I've seen people die," she said, crying as she became frustrated with the crowd's inability to agree on how to move forward as a group.
"We're asking for you stand for the earth, the water, the air, because we've stood for it. All our issues are your issues. We are the unseen and the unheard." (The Huffington Post Canada/Scaachi Koul)

The afternoon's general assembly on Sunday caused great unrest amongst the group -- first, there was argument over which rules and methods the group should follow when bringing up points of order or information. Participants at Occupy Toronto were using the "people's mic," which is when one person with the floor speaks, and everyone repeats after them so that large groups can hear. The accessibility committee raised an issue with using this method since those with hearing disabilities couldn't hear all the sounds at once. Debate over using the people's mic or a megaphone went on throughout the more than two-hour long assembly. (The Huffington Post Canada/Scaachi Koul)

This Air Canada flight attendant, who refused to give her name, was one of many employees from the company who came to protest their own employer and the government for preventing them from striking.
"It's really frustrating. I feel like I've had my rights taken away from me," she said on Saturday morning. (The Huffington Post Canada/Scaachi Koul)

Tim Ellis is from Rochester, New York, but often visits Toronto. On Saturday afternoon, he came to participate in Occupy Toronto at St. James Park. Ellis says these protests stem from a basic misunderstanding between the rich and the middle class.
"The way that it's set up, it's created a society where our interests don't line up with theirs," he says. "This [protest] has shifted the focus on the people. This is a global phenomenon."
Ellis hopes rallies like the Occupy movement will get people more politically involved.
"I'd like to see people be aware of what their money is doing," said Ellis. "Politicians are still accountable to people." (The Huffington Post Canada/Scaachi Koul)

Daniel Roth is one of the many organizers of Occupy Toronto.
"I really believe that people out yelling loud can really make a difference," he said, losing his voice after a morning of rallying thousands up Bay Street in downtown Toronto. "This is the beginning of a much larger shift in the social economic norm."
Roth agreed with the criticism that the crowd wasn't organized in one unifying message, but said that having a multitude of messages would be just as effective. "It's about systemic change." (The Huffington Post Canada/Scaachi Koul)

Manning the logistics tent was Michael Vessey, taking in donations for the camp in the form of clothes, water, sleeping bags and cash. Vessey said that even on day two, it was still too early to judge the momentum of the occupy movement in Toronto.
"I believe this is a primal, intergalactic movement," he said, crying. "It's time to build heaven on Earth."
Vessey said the logistics team is working on figuring out a way for occupees to stay in St. James Park through to the winter. "We're going to be here a long time." (The Huffington Post Canada/Scaachi Koul)

Wes Green doesn't consider himself part of the population negatively affected by banks, but came to Occupy Toronto to support those who are.
"I'm here out of empathy for people who have had something done to them," he said on Saturday afternoon. "It's about strength in numbers." (The Huffington Post Canada/Scaachi Koul)

Carrol Walker and Lucas Stork set up a tent for them and their friends to camp overnight in St. James Park this weekend for Occupy Toronto. They'll have to leave Monday morning to go to school, but hope to rejoin the protest later in the week.
"We think in order to actually make a difference, we are going to have to stay adamant," said Stork. (The Huffington Post Canada/Scaachi Koul)

Mary Trapani Hynes, also known as "Yelly Granny," gained some local notoriety after appearing at a couple of recent executive committees at Toronto's City Hall. She came to St. James Park for Occupy Toronto on Saturday morning to protest the influence and abuses of Canada's banks.
"If there's enough of us, it puts pressure on the government," she said. "That's what speaking at council is about."
And to Mayor Rob Ford, who wasn't present during the march, Hynes only had one question: "Why aren't you at the front of the line?" (The Huffington Post Canada/Scaachi Koul)

This participant, who calls herself "Kamikaze," was often seen during protests and events in Toronto that called for a public inquiry in the G20.
"I'm here to expose the truth," she said on Saturday morning at the corner of Bay and King streets before the march started. "The one per cent that have the money are putting it in their pocket."
Although she attended Occupy Toronto hoping to get the attention of Canada's banks, she's still thinking about last summer's G20 protests in Toronto. "I don't want [police chief Bill] Blair to forget. I won't forget." (The Huffington Post Canada/Scaachi Koul)

Sarah Stephens, a 17-year-old student, came to Occupy Toronto on Saturday morning after being influenced by her father, a "union guy." Her sign brought her a great deal of attention during the march.
"I'm representing those that are tired of corruption," she said, tapping her sign. "Mulroney reminds us that Canada isn't immune to corruption." (The Huffington Post Canada/Scaachi Koul)

Kathryn Langley is 67 years old but has been retired for the past 14. She knows she's lucky: "I really hate the top one per cent that controls everything," she said at Occupy Toronto on Saturday morning.
"I have four grandchildren. I'm worried about the future for them." Langley's biggest concern is the exorbitant amount CEO and CFOs can make, while lower-level employees suffer financially.
"I would like to see limits put on remuneration for CEOs. I don't believe anyone is worth $50 million for one year," she said. "What would you do with a billion dollars?" (The Huffington Post Canada/Scaachi Koul)